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Part C

A visit to Glenfield Sheep Farm

1
A When people hear New Zealand they often think about sheep. No wonder, sheep
2
farming is a major industry in this country and there are far more sheep on the islands
3
than people. This morning I spent a few hours with Oliver Wilson, who runs the
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Glenfield Sheep Farm in the quiet Waitaki Valley in the centre of the South Island.
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While he was showing me around, he told me about his life as a farmer and about the
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importance of sheep farming in this country.
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B It was the famous British explorer James Cook who brought the first sheep to New
8
Zealand by ship in 1773. They survived only a few days because they had eaten
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poisonous plants. Later a lot of wealthy Englishmen came to New Zealand and started
10
farms here, and they brought thousands of sheep from Australia with them. Sheep
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farming became very popular around the 1850s, and has played an important role in
12
New Zealand’s economy ever since. New Zealanders refer to the time around 1982 as
13
‘peak sheep’ because there were more than 70 million sheep in the country which
14
itself had a population of just over 3 million people at that time. Since then, the
15
number of sheep has gone down as cattle1 15 farming has become more important.
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C Oliver Wilson told me that they mainly produce wool on his farm. Apart from
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shearing2 the sheep, Oliver and his workers also wash, comb and spin the wool and
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even knit pullovers and socks. So he and his workers represent a New Zealand tradi-
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tion because for many years in the history of sheep farming wool has been the coun-
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try’s main export. When it finally became possible to transport frozen goods, farmers
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earned more money with meat. As early as 1882 farmers began to ship frozen mutton3
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and lamb to Great Britain and nowadays many farms concentrate on meat, which they
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sell worldwide; you can find New Zealand mutton and lamb in supermarkets all over
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the world. Sheep milk plays a minor role on most farms but is the main ingredient of
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specialities like sheep cheese or yoghurt.
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D The farm workers have to maintain buildings, fences, and fields all year round. They
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also have to take care of the sheepdogs that live on the farm. In spring and early sum-
28
mer, which last from September to December, they sell the early lambs and spread
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fertilizer4 on the fields. In summer they make hay, which they use as winter food for
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the animals. Between March and May they examine the female sheep. In winter, June
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to August, the new lambs are born, and Oliver and his team are very busy with all the
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baby sheep.
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E Twice a year some specially trained shearers come to the farm. During the shearing
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season groups of shearers go from one farm to the other to shear all the sheep living in
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New Zealand. This is extremely hard work, and it takes years to become perfect at the
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job. Shearers are paid per sheep and an experienced worker can shear up to 400 sheep
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a day. So, on the one hand, a shearer has to work quickly to earn enough money to
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make a living. On the other hand, he has to shear the sheep carefully to make sure that
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he does not hurt the sheep.
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F Nowadays most farmers cannot earn enough money by raising sheep alone. This is
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why Oliver has opened his farm to daytime visitors. One of the farm workers shows
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them around and explains some details about the farm and the sheep. The specially
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trained sheepdogs demonstrate how they keep the flock5 together or how they bring
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the sheep into the stables. The visitors can even pet and feed the lambs, which is an
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especially popular activity with young children. At the end of the tour the visitors can
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buy pullovers or socks and a range of other products at the farm shop.

1 Rinder

2 scheren (Schafe von Wolle befreien)

3 Schaffleisch

4 Dünger ausbringen

5 Herde

1.

Read the text “A visit to Glenfield Sheep Farm” above. Match the titles (1–8) to the paragraphs (B–F). Write the correct number in the boxes below.

Use each number only once. There are three extra titles. One title (0) is already matched.

0.

Introduction

1.

Always a lot of work

2.

Meat from lambs

3.

Sheep farming in the past

4.

Sheep farm products

5.

Sheep-shearing competition

6.

Showing guests around

7.

Staying on the farm in your holidays

8.

Travelling skilled specialists

Paragraph A

0

Paragraph B

Paragraph C

Paragraph D

Paragraph E

Paragraph F

5 Punkte

2.

Read the text above Tick () the correct ending for each sentence according to the text. There is an example (0) at the beginning.

0. When you compare the numbers in New Zealand, there are ...

a few more sheep than people.

a lot fewer inhabitants than sheep.

as many sheep as inhabitants.

fewer sheep than New Zealanders.

1. While cattle farming has become more important in New Zealand in the last forty years ...

the number of sheep farms has also grown.

the number of sheep has not changed.

there have been more sheep than ever before.

there has been less sheep farming.

2. When goods could be frozen, sheep farmers ...

earned less money with meat.

exported mainly wool.

made more money with wool.

were able to sell their meat abroad.

3. How much money the shearers get depends on ...

how carefully they work.

how many sheep they shear.

their qualifications.

their working hours.

4. In most cases sheep farming alone ...

brings too little money for the farmer.

is not interesting for tourists.

makes the farmer a rich man.

means working only in the summer.
4 Punkte

3.

Answer the questions using information from the text above.

Short answers are possible. There is an example (0) at the beginning.

0. What do people think of when they hear New Zealand? sheep

1. When did they have the largest number of sheep in New Zealand?

_____________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

2. What is a less important product on sheep farms although you need it to produce delicious food?

_____________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

3. How often does someone come to cut off the sheep’s wool?

_____________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

4. What jobs do the sheepdogs have to do on the farm? Name one.

_____________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

4 Punkte

4.

The following words have different meanings. Which of the meanings below

is the one used in the text on page 4?

Tick () the correct meaning. There is an example (0) at the beginning.

0. about (line 1)

an (Präposition)

gegen (Präposition)

um (Präposition)

ungefähr (Adverb)

1. runs (line 3)

betreibt (Verb)

funktioniert (Verb)

läuft (Verb)

rennt (Verb)

2. just (line 14)

gerade erst (Adverb)

gerechter/e/es (Adjektiv)

knapp (Adverb)

nur (Adverb)

3. ship (line 21)

anheuern (Verb)

Raumschiff (Nomen)

Schiff (Nomen)

verschicken (Verb)

4. last (line 28)

dauern (Verb)

letzter/e/es (Adjektiv)

reichen (Verb)

voriger/e/es (Adjektiv)

5. pet (line 44)

Haustier (Nomen)

Liebling (Nomen)

streicheln (Verb)

verhätscheln (Verb)
4 Punkte

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